Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Works of Art


My mother is a very talented artist who at the very moment she reads this will shake her head furiously and say, "Oh, I'm really not that good."

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Exhibits A(bove) and B(elow).

She takes common, every day items and turns them into works of art. These gorgeous pictures were painted directly onto an old set of windows from the farmhouse next door, where my parents live. She's created similar scenes on old coffee cans, pieces of driftwood, and picture frames.

I took these photos back in April at the Farmers Market on the Court Green. My children and I were trying to sell daffodils, and we asked her to come along and bring some of her artwork. She ended up selling a couple smaller pieces, and for a while I thought she was gaining some momentum and confidence to create more.

Alas, when daffodil season ended, we all kind of lost momentum and never did return to attempt to sell more of her creations.

I've always told her she could make a bundle of money if she would only display her work, but she usually comes up with an excuse such as,  "I've got too much to take care of around here with all the killer geese  animals, and nobody wants any of my stuff anyway."

For someone who among other things was Miss Gloucester-Mathews;  the Daffodil Queen; class valedictorian; a Miss Virginia contestant; William and Mary student; and "Bobby Soxtet" singer who was featured on the radio back in the day, she sure does lack confidence in herself.

Perhaps one of my two readers could give her some encouragement to pick up the ole paintbrush and give her a whirl.

In the meantime, enjoy these two festive scenes, which at the rate I'm going may be the closest I come to displaying any sort of Christmas decorations anywhere.  Whatsoever.

(Insert picture of me smiling and waving here.) Hey, Mumma. Thanks for all you do to help me.  I think we could easily sell your art on the internet but we need to create an inventory first.  In other news, those collard greens you gave me the other night were outstanding. We may need to create an inventory of those as well.  Love you, CBW.    

18 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Painted right onto the glass of old windows? What a wonderful idea. They're super.
I hope she gets some of that almost-Miss-Virginia confidence back. Takes more guts than I ever possessed to get to that stage (pun intended).
As one of your two readers, I vote yes, so the ayes almost have it.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

deborah said...

absolutely fabulous art! Your mumma is a true artist, and needs to express herself more often! I just love both 'windows'!
I vote Yes!

wv- anglat - anglat paintbrush on more windows!

judi/Gmj said...

She's got talent, and a fun daughter.
I like the snowy scenes with the flowers, neat contrast.

Ann Marie said...

Hi Mom... umm those need to be displayed at Sibleys in the Made in Mathews store.. they will be snatched up before you can blink...

seriously.. Jill and I don't lie.
Re Vogel.

WV induc you need to hurry up and put them in there.. so we can induc you into the Mathews Hall of Fame AGAIN.

Meg McCormick said...

Hey, CB Mom - your daughter's spot-on with this one. Now that she has the high-speed internet, she can set up a virtual shop on Etsy for you, and between that and some local festivals and - yes! - Sibley's, you could totally sell this stuff. It's unique, it's locally made, it's taking something old and repurposing it, and people totally love that.

Lynne M. said...

Did she happen to sell that snowman window? I collect snowman stuff.. and that window is BEE-OO-T-FULLLL!! Both of them are, she is very talented!

WV: purcao, which in some other language must fit into the sentence:

I want to purcao that there snowman window...

Jamie said...

I want both window paintings, they are fantabulous!

Trisha said...

I agree - your mom is an artist. Those are beautiful!

Daryl said...

She would sell those in a heartbeat here at our GreenFlea .. come on up and bring 'em with you .. I guarantee you will go home with cash

Anonymous said...

These are awesome. That's what I would like for Christmas, but I need smaller items in case I fly there.....am trying to figure out my schedule now. Will definitely be there for Daddy's Bday, but want to come sometime around the holiday, too.

Love you!
Middle Sis

Diane said...

I think Mamma has more talent in her pinky than I have in my whole body! We need to find a way to market her art!

Mrs F with 4 said...

CB Mother - Do it, do it DOOO ITTTTTTTT.

Actually, I really, really want, no, NEED those two beautiful pieces. Can you ship?

Please?

Anonymous said...

I think your Mom has no idea how well her art would sell. Come on Mom, get busy painting!

Postcard Cindy

AverettLadyNana said...

Very Very Talented!!!

Mental P Mama said...

She is as talented as she is beautiful....just like her daughter(s)!

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Thank you all for your encouraging words...Mumma came over this evening to express her dismay at not being able to post from her computer.

One thing she wanted to say was she was SALUTATORIAN as opposed to valedictorian. (I couldn't remember and opted to give her the benefit of the doubt.)

Regardless of the official label, she's brilliant and full of talent.

Thank you all for agreeing with me!

Middle Sis - Love you and look forward to seeing you.

(P.S. Middle Sis painted a scene on a T-shirt for me that is one of my favorites: a hurdler. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.)

Meg at the Members Lounge said...

Very nice! I love her folk art style. She is good!

Meg McCormick said...

Oh, that explains why I like her so much. I was also the salutatorian for my HS class! Except I wasn't Miss Anything and can't really paint stuff. But I used to play a pretty mean oboe...